BALTIMORE, May 23, 2012 – The 2012 induction class for the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame has been approved by the US Lacrosse Board of Directors. This year’s eight-person class will be officially inducted in a ceremony Saturday, Oct. 20, at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md.

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a program of US Lacrosse, was established in 1957 to honor men and women who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to our way of life. More than 350 lacrosse greats are honored in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which is located with the Lacrosse Museum at US Lacrosse Headquarters in Baltimore.

Brief bios for this year’s inductees follow, with more detailed career bios listed further below:

Jen Adams
Adams will be inducted as a truly great player. She enjoyed a record-setting four-year playing career at the University of Maryland from 1998-2001, during which time she earned first-team All-America honors three times and won the Tewaaraton Award as a senior. Adams was named the national player of the year and the national attacker of the year by the IWLCA three times, winning each award in 1999, 2000 and 2001. She concluded her career as Maryland’s all-time leader in goals, assists, and points, and helped lead the Terrapins to four straight NCAA national championships from 1998-2001. A native of Australia, Adams also played for the Australian national team in 2001, 2005 and 2009 and earned All-World honors twice. She is currently serving in her fourth year as head women’s lacrosse coach at Loyola University Maryland.

Roy Colsey
Colsey will be inducted as a truly great player. He was a four-time All-American at Syracuse University from 1992-1995 following a standout prep career at Yorktown (N.Y.) High School. Colsey earned first-team All-America honors in each of his last three collegiate seasons after earning third-team honors as a freshman. He received the USILA’s McLaughlin Award in 1995 as the national midfielder of the year, and also was selected for the North-South All-Star Game as a senior. He led Syracuse to the NCAA national championship in 1993 and 1995. Colsey also played nine seasons (2000-2008) professionally in Major League Lacrosse and earned all-star honors four times. He was the MLL’s Championship MVP in 2006. Colsey also was a member of the 2006 U.S. Men’s National Team.

Brian Dougherty
Dougherty will be inducted as a truly great player. He was a two-time, first-team All-American at the University of Maryland (1993-1996), earning the award in his junior and senior seasons. Dougherty was a two-time recipient of the USILA’s Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award as the nation’s top goalkeeper (1995, 1996) and was named the Lt. Raymond Enners Award winner as the nation’s outstanding player in 1995. In addition, he was MVP of the 1995 NCAA Championship after leading Maryland to a second place finish. Dougherty played nine professional seasons in Major League Lacrosse and was an MLL All-Star six times and the MLL’s Goalie of the Year three times. He also won two World Championships as a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team in 1998 and 2010.

Missy Foote
Foote will be inducted as a truly great coach. She completed her 31st season as head coach at Middlebury (Vt.) College in 2012, and has a career winning percentage of nearly 80 percent. Foote has guided Middlebury to the NCAA Division III national championship five times (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004) and has recorded four perfect seasons. Under her guidance, Middlebury has recorded seven conference championships and made 14 straight trips to the NCAA national semifinals from 1994-2007. She has been recognized as the IWLCA national coach of the year five times. Foote also served as an assistant coach with the U.S. Women’s Developmental Team from 2005-09, and a member of the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Committee from 2003-06.

Kelly Amonte Hiller
Amonte Hiller will be inducted as a truly great player. Amonte Hiller was a four-time All-American at the University of Maryland, earning first-team honors in 1994, 1995 and 1996 after receiving second team honors as a freshman in 1993. She helped to lead the Terrapins to the NCAA national championship in 1995 and 1996, and was named the national defensive player of the year in 1995 and the national offensive player of the year in 1996. She was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) Female Athlete of the Year in 1996. Amonte Hiller is a three-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Team (1997, 2001, 2005), and was selected to the All-World Team in 2005. She is currently serving in her 11th season as head women’s lacrosse coach at Northwestern University.

Jesse Hubbard
Hubbard will be inducted as a truly great player. Hubbard was a three-time All-American at Princeton (N.J.) University, earning first-team honors in 1996 and 1998 and second-team honors in 1997. He helped lead the Tigers to three straight NCAA national championships (1996, 1997, 1998) and four consecutive Ivy League titles during his career. Hubbard also earned All-Ivy League recognition three times, and was named the league’s player of the year as a sophomore in 1996 when he established a new school record with 53 goals in a season. He finished his career as Princeton’s all-time leader in goals scored (163) and second in career points (211). He was a member of the 1998 U.S. National Team that won the world championship, and played professionally for three indoor seasons and eight outdoor seasons. He was a six-time all-star in Major League Lacrosse (2001-2006) and the MLL’s leading scorer three times (2001-2003).

Tim Nelson
Nelson will be inducted as a truly great player. He was a three-time first-team All-American (1983, 1984, 1985) at Syracuse (N.Y.) University after transferring from North Carolina State University following his freshman season. In addition, Nelson was awarded the USILA’s Lt. Col. Jack Turnbull Award as the national attackman of the year three times (1983, 1984 and 1985). Syracuse won the NCAA national championship in 1983 and finished as the national runner-up during Nelson’s junior and senior seasons in 1984 and 1985. Nelson also was selected for the USILA’s North-South All-Star Game in 1985, and recognized on the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Team in 1995.

Cindy TimchalTimchal will be inducted as a truly great coach. Timchal is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA women’s lacrosse history, with a 412-108 career record in 30 seasons as a head coach through 2012. She is the only women’s lacrosse coach to lead three different teams to the NCAA tournament, having done so previously with Northwestern University and the University of Maryland in addition to her current team, the U.S. Naval Academy. Timchal has won the NCAA national championship eight times (1992, 1995-2001) – all at Maryland – and made her 24th NCAA tournament appearance in 2012, the most all-time among coaches. She was named the IWLCA’s national coach of the year in 1999, was the ACC’s coach of the year four times (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003) and recognized as the head coach on the NCAA’s 25th Anniversary Team in 2006.

A fuller listing of each inductees accomplishments follows below:

Jen Adams – Player
• Four-year college player at University of Maryland (1998-2001)
• First-team All-American (1999, 2000 and 2001)
• Tewaaraton Award winner (2001)
• National Player of the Year (1999, 2000, and 2001)
• National Attacker of the Year (1999, 2000, and 2001)
• Atlantic Coast Conference Champion (1999, 2000, and 2001)
• NCAA National Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001)
• Named to NCAA 25th Anniversary Team
• Maryland career leader in goals, assists, and points
• Australia Women’s National Team (2001, 2005, and 2009)
• All-World Team (2005, 2009)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Potomac Chapter Hall of Fame (2007)

Roy Colsey – Player
• Three-year player at Yorktown (N.Y.) High School (1989-1991)
• Selected as all-county (1990 and 1991) and All-American (1990 and 1991)
• Won state championship (1989 and 1991)
• Four-time All-American at Syracuse Univ.: 1st Team (1993, 1994, 1995); 3rd Team (1992)
• Winner of USILA’s McLaughlin Award as Midfielder of the Year (1995)
• Two-time NCAA National Champion (1993 and 1995)
• Selected to North/South All-Star Game (1995)
• Played post-collegiate club lacrosse for New York AC (1997-2000)
• Played professional lacrosse for New York Saints (indoor, 2000-2001)
• Played professional lacrosse for Philadelphia Barrage (outdoor, 2001-2008)
• Selected as NLL All-Pro: First Team (2001); Second Team (2000)
• Selected as MLL All-Pro: First Team (2006) and four-time MLL All-Star
• Named MVP of MLL Championship Game (2006)
• Member of U.S. Men’s National Team (2006)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Hudson Valley Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2001)

Brian Dougherty – Player
• Four-year player at Episcopal (Pa.) Academy (1989-1992)
• Named all-state (1990, 1991, 1992) and All-American (1991, 1992)
• Won state championship (1991)
• Two-time All-American at the University of Maryland: First Team (1995 and 1996)
• Winner of USILA’s Ensign C. Markland Kelly Award as Goalie of the Year (1995, 1996)
• Named to All-ACC Team (1995 and 1996)
• Named Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament (1995)
• Selected to USILA’s North/South All-Star Game (1996)
• Selected to ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team
• Played post-collegiate club for Chesapeake (1997-2000) and Team Toyota
• Played professional lacrosse for Rochester Rattlers (outdoor, 2001-2002)
• Played professional lacrosse for Long Island Lizards (outdoor, 2003-2004, 2009); MLL Champions (2003)
• Played professional lacrosse for Philadelphia Barrage (outdoor, 2005-2008)
• Selected as MLL All-Star six times (2001-2004, 2006, 2008)
• Named MLL Goalie of the Year three times (2003, 2006, 2007)
• Member of the U.S. Men’s National Team (1998 and 2010)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Philadelphia/Eastern Pa. Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2010)

Missy Foote – Coach
• Head Coach at Middlebury College (1979-1983, 1987 to present)
• Cumulative record of 376-101-1 (79%) through the end of the 2012 season.
• Five-time NCAA Division III National Champion (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2004)
• Five-time National Coach of the Year (1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2002)
• Five-time conference Coach of the Year (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005)
• Coached Middlebury to four perfect seasons (1999, 2001, 2002, and 2004)
• Led Middlebury to 14 straight trips to NCAA semifinals (1994-2007)
• Seven-time NESCAC Champions
• Assistant Coach for U.S. Women’s Developmental Team (2005-2009)
• Served on NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Committee (2003-2006)
• Served on Tewaaraton Committee (2001-2005)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Vermont Chapter Hall of Fame (2002)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse New England Chapter Hall of Fame (2003)
• Inducted to Springfield College Hall of Fame (2004)
• Inducted to Ward Melville High School Hall of Fame (2002)

Kelly Amonte Hiller – Player
• Four-year player at Thayer (Mass.) Academy
• Three-time high school All-American (1990, 1991, and 1992)
• Four-year player at the University of Maryland (1993-1996)
• Four-time college All-American: First Team (1994, 1995, 1996); Second Team (1993)
• National defensive player of the year (1995)
• National offensive player of the year (1996)
• ACC Female Athlete of the Year (1996)
• Two-time NCAA National Champion (1995, 1996)
• Selected twice to All-NCAA Tournament Team (1994, 1995)
• Three-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Team (1997, 2001, and 2005)
• Named to All-World Team (2005)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse New England Chapter Hall of Fame (2006)
• Inducted to University of Maryland Hall of Fame (2009)

Jesse Hubbard – Player
• Four-year player at St. Alban’s (D.C.) School (1991-1994)
• Named All-Metro twice (1993 and 1994) and All-American once (1994)
• Selected as The Washington Post’s Player of the Year (1994)
• Three-time college All-American at Princeton: 1st Team (1996, 1998); 2nd Team (1997)
• Three-time NCAA National Champion (1996, 1997, and 1998)
• Named to All-NCAA Tournament Team three times (1996, 1997, and 1998)
• Named to All-Ivy League Team three times (1996, 1997, and 1998)
• Named Ivy League Player of the Year (1996)
• Won four Ivy League championships (1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998)
• Finished as Princeton’s all-time leader in career goals; goals in a season (1996)
• Played post-collegiate club for Capital Lacrosse Club (1999)
• Played indoor professional lacrosse for three seasons (1999-2002)
• Played outdoor professional lacrosse for eight seasons ( 2001-2008)
• Six-time MLL All-Star (2001-2006)
• Leading goal scorer in MLL three times (2001-2003)
• Member of the U.S. Men’s National Team (1998)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Potomac Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2008)

Tim Nelson – Player
• Four-year player at Yorktown (N.Y.) High School (1978-1981)
• Named All-County (1979, 1980, and 1981) and All-American (1980 and 1981)
• Won three section championships (1978, 1980, and 1981)
• Four-year college player at North Carolina State (1982) and Syracuse (1983-1985)
• Three-time first-team All-American: (1983, 1984, and 1985)
• Three-time winner of USILA’s Turnbull Award as Attackman of the Year (1983, 1984, 1985)
• Won NCAA National Championship (1983)
• Finished as NCAA Championship runner-up (1984 and 1985)
• Served as Syracuse team captain (1985)
• Selected to USILA’s North/South All-Star Game (1985)
• Named to NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Team (1995)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Hudson Valley Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1994)

Cindy Timchal – Coach
• Assistant Coach at University of Pennsylvania (1980)
• Head Coach at Northwestern University (1982-1990) – 76 wins, 40 losses
• Head Coach at University of Maryland (1991-2006) – 260 wins, 46 losses
• Head Coach of U.S Naval Academy club team (2007)
• Head Coach of U.S. Naval Academy varsity team (2008-2012) – 76 wins, 22 losses
• Cumulative varsity record through the end of the 2012 season: 412 wins, 108 losses (79%)
• Winner of eight NCAA National Championships (1992, 1995-2001)
• Named National Coach of the Year (1999)
• Named IWCLA South Region Coach of the Year (2000)
• Named ACC Coach of the Year (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003)
• Named to NCAA’s 25th Anniversary Team as Head Coach (2006)
• Head Coach of U.S. Developmental Team (1997-1998)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Philadelphia/Eastern Pa. Chapter Hall of Fame (2002)
• Inducted to US Lacrosse Potomac Chapter Hall of Fame (2006)
• Inducted to Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame – Delaware County Chapter (2009)

TOWSON, Md. – Junior Jordan Dangerfield of the Colonial Athletic Association champion football team and senior Kacy Catanzaro of the gymnastics team were named as Towson University’s Male and Female Athlete of the Year award winners, it was announced at the Golden Paws Event in the Towson Center on Saturday night.

In addition, Rob Ambrose, who led the Tiger football team to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA FCS playoffs, was honored as the Coach of the Year. Ambrose was one of four Towson head coaches to be named as conferences coach of the year (Bruce Atkinson, Vicki Chliszczyk, Sonia LaMonica) this past season and he was recognized as the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year presented to the top coach in NCAA FCS football.

Dangerfield, a first team All-American, was one of the captains of the “Turnaround Tigers”. He led Towson with 93 tackles from the strong safety position and ranked second in the CAA among defensive backs in total tackles. Dangerfield also had two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries en route to being named first team All-CAA. He helped the Tigers finish the season as the ninth-ranked team in the nation.

Catanzaro was named as the 2012 ECAC Gymnast of the Year after leading the Tigers to a 20-5 record as a senior and a four-year mark of 75-16. She was honored as the NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnast of the year and she was a five-time selection as ECAC Gymnast of the Week. Catanzaro qualified for the NCAA regionals and set an ECAC record with a 9.975 vault score at the ECAC Championship Meet to win the title. She was chosen first team All-ECAC on vault, bars, floor and all-around while leading the Tigers to a second-place finish.

Seniors Jocelyn Papciak of women’s soccer and Matt Lamon of men’s lacrosse were honored as the winners of the Tiger Club Scholar-Athletes of the Year Award.

The Female Unsung Hero Award was presented to Kelly Custer of the CAA Champion women’s lacrosse team while the Male Unsung Hero Award went to baseball’s Tyler Austin.

A first team All-CAA selection, Custer helped the Tigers post a 15-3 mark and take home the CAA Title. She tied for the team lead with 31 goals and dished out eight assists. Custer tallied four goals with three assists in the CAA Tournament en route to being named to the All-Tournament team.

A four-year letter-winner for the Tigers, Austin has appeared in a school record 81 games. He leads the CAA with his 12.38 strikeouts per nine innings. Tyler has already broken the Towson career record for strikeouts with 205 in his four years.

Senior women’s lacrosse goalie Mary Teeters was honored as the winner of the Female Senior Career Achievement Award. A four-year starter at goalkeeper for the Tigers, Teeters played in a school record 75 games. She led the Tigers to the 2012 CAA Championship and was named as the CAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer. A two-time All-CAA first team selection, Teeters ranks among Towson’s all-time leaders with 620 career saves. She was a nominee for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the top lacrosse player in the country.

Senior Tyler Wharton of the football team was chosen as the winner of the Male Career Achievement Award. A three-year starter at fullback, Wharton was one of the key players for the 2012 CAA Champion Tiger football team. He was a key blocker for the Tigers’ run game which led the CAA with 230 rushing yards per game. Wharton was second on the team with five touchdowns in 2012 and he was a two-time All-CAA selection.

Freshman running back Terrance West and freshman shortstop Hailey Balk were named as the Male and Female Rookie of the Year Award winners.

The winner of the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in NCAA FCS, West led the nation a set a school record with 29 touchdowns. West was named the CAA Rookie of the Year and First Team All-CAA. He rushed for 1,292 yards and was a key player in the Tigers’ dramatic improvement from 1-10 to 9-3 and a CAA Championship.

A starter in 46 of 52 games at shortstop, Balk led the Tigers in hitting a .358 clip which ranked her fifth in the CAA. As a freshman, she was third in the CAA with 54 hits, including an 18-game hitting streak. Balk had 16 multi-hit games, drove in 23 runs and scored 22.

The Tiger women’s swimming and diving team and the men’s soccer team were selected as the winners of the Wayne Edwards Team Academic Achievement Awards as the programs with the highest grade point averages.

Face-off specialist Ian Mills of the men’s lacrosse team and Catanzaro of the gymnastics team were selected as the Strength and Conditioning Athletes of the Year.

In addition, Director of Athletics Mike Waddell and University President Dr. Maravene Loeschke presented Lonnie McNew with the prestigious Minnegan Award for dedication to Tiger athletics.

In addition, Ted Zaleski was honored with the Director’s Award while Jacki Molen was the winner of the Service to Tiger Athletics Award.

The final award of the evening was a tie for Team of the Year as the football team and women’s lacrosse team, who each won CAA Titles this past season, shared the honor.

Spiro Morekas, a 1983 Towson graduate who has served as the radio broadcaster for Tiger football, basketball and lacrosse games, served as the Master of Ceremonies.

Loyola University Maryland travels to nearby Annapolis, Md., and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

The top-seeded Greyhounds will face fellow ECAC Lacrosse League member University of Denver for the third time this season at 2:30 p.m.

On The Tube And Web

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Eamon McAnaney and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN, and on the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

Series History

Loyola and Denver will meet for the fifth time in series history and third time this season when the teams take the field Saturday. The Greyhounds and Pioneers have met during the regular-season in each of the last three seasons and then earlier this month in an ECAC Semifinal. The series is tied 2-2 through the first four meetings.

Denver won the first two meetings, 12-4 at Invesco Field in 2010 and 12-8 last year at Ridley Athletic Complex.

This season, Loyola used a 5-1 run to close the game, overcoming an 8-7 third-quarter deficit on April 14 in Denver to beat the Pioneers, 12-9.

The teams met again with Loyola as the No. 1 seed, and Denver the fourth, in the ECAC Semifinals on May 2, again in Denver. Loyola opened up a 13-6 lead with 13:14 left in regulation before the Pioneers scored seven-straight to tie the game at 13-13 with 3:30 remaining on the clock. Scott Ratliff picked up the ground ball to start overtime, and he scored eight seconds later, lifting Loyola to the ECAC title game.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 9-19 all-time in Championships play, 9-17 at the Division I level.

The Greyhounds are making their 13th NCAA Quarterfinals appearance and the first since 2001. They are 2-10 in Quarterfinal games with their last victory in the round coming in 1998 against Georgetown in a 12-11 decision.

NCAA Rematches

Saturday will be the first time in Loyola men’s lacrosse history (since 1938) that the Greyhounds will have played the same team three times in the same season.

A rematch with a regular-season opponent in the NCAA Championships is not unusual for Loyola. It will be the 12th time that the Greyhounds have faced a team in the NCAAs that they played earlier in the year. Including a game in the 1979 Division II-III Tournament, Loyola is 2-9 in those games. The last time it happened, Duke defeated the Greyhounds, 12-7, in the 2008 First Round.

This Season Against Denver

Loyola has featured balanced scoring in its two games against Denver with 13 players tallying goals in the two games and eight scoring two or more. Mike Sawyer and Eric Lusby lead the way with four goals each, while Scott Ratliff has three. Davis Butts, Pat Byrnes, Sean O’Sullivan, Phil Dobson and Nikko Pontrello each have scored two against the Pioneers this year. Justin Ward is tops on Loyola with four assists in the two games.

Top Spot

Loyola entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Canisius in the NCAA Championships First Round was its 15th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

In The Polls

Loyola moved up to No. 2 in both the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls following their ECAC Championship. The Greyhounds were ranked No. 1 for two weeks before losing their only game of the season on April 28 to Johns Hopkins.

The Greyhounds finished the regular-season with the No. 1 RPI in the NCAA, as well.

Denver entered the NCAAs 13th in both versions.

Second-Half Run

Loyola used 13 unanswered goals to break open a 4-3 halftime lead against Canisius last Saturday in a 17-5 victory over the Golden Griffins in the NCAA Championships First Round.

The Greyhounds took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before Canisius scored three unanswered in the second. Mike Sawyer corralled a rebound of an Eric Lusby shot off the pipe and scored 1:20 into the second quarter to start the run. During the stretch, Sawyer scored all five of his goals, and Lusby had two of his three.

The run was the second longest in the brief, three-year history of Ridley Athletic Complex. Only a 14-0 run to start the game on March 20, 2010, against Air Force had more goals.

Sawyer Ties Single-Season Record

Mike Sawyer scored five times in the game against Canisius – his fourth game in 2012 with five or more goals – raising his season total to 50 goals to match the 2000 school record set by Tim Goettelmann. Goettelmann went on to become Major League Lacrosse’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Earlier this season, against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000. They are the only three Loyola players to top 40 this century.

In the ECAC Semifinal against Denver, Sawyer pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 53, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. Sawyer’s teammate, Eric Lusby, has since joined him with more than 50 points (more later).

Two Over 40/50

Mike Sawyer (50g, 58p) and Eric Lusby (40g, 54p) became the first set of Loyola teammates to score 40 goals and 50 points in a season since Tim Goettelmann (50, 65) and Gavin Prout (41, 53) accomplished the feat in 2000.

They are one of only two duos in the nation this year – Robert Morris’ Kiel Matisz (40, 64) and Jake Hayes (42, 61) are the other – to post 40 and 50.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (74) and caused turnovers (34), is tied for sixth in goals (11) and is seventh in assists (7).

A Tewaaraton Award nominee earlier in the year, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

Ratliff, who was also an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, then scored twice in the first quarter against Canisius to go along with six ground balls and three faceoff wins in the game.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his third multi-goal game of the season in the NCAA First Round against Canisius, raising his season totals to 11 goals and seven assists.

With his game-opening goal against the Golden Griffins, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff and Dwan are now tied for the lead with 11 goals each.

Ratliff is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship. Also, in March, Loyola’s men’s basketball team won its first MAAC title in 18 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday, joining Colgate A Peter Baum, Duke LSM C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts A Will Manny and Virginia A Steele Stanwick.

Sawyer is the first Loyola men’s player to be named a finalist, and he is also the first player from to hail the State of North Carolina to be so honored. He was one of three Greyhounds on the Tewaaraton Watch List where he was joined by Eric Lusby and Scott Ratliff, and Ratliff was a fellow semifinalist. The Award, which is given annually to the top player in college lacrosse, will be presented on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (18g, 30p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 26) and Chris Layne (10, 20) has combined for 44 goals and 32 assists this season, whiel the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (9, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (7, 2) has added 25 and 13. Additionally, Nikko Pontrello has started to mix in with the second midfield, allowing Loyola’s attackers the opportunity to invert, and he has four goals and six assists.

Balanced Scoring In ECAC Championships

Loyola traveled to Denver for the 2012 ECAC Lacrosse League Championships and left the Mile-High City with a 97-pound trophy (no, really). The Greyhounds, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and finished the regular-season 6-0 in the league, beat host and No. 4 seed Denver, 14-13, in overtime to advance to the final. There, Loyola topped Fairfield, 14-7.

Fifteen different Greyhounds scored goals in the two games with 11 tallying goals in the semifinal and 10 in the title game. Mike Sawyer led the team with four goals in the two games, a trio coming in the final, while Eric Lusby, Chris Layne and Scott Ratliff each had three.

Justin Ward led the Greyhounds with eight total points, dishing out three assists in the semifinal and three along with two goals in the championship.

Two players scored their first collegiate goals in the games, one in each contest. Kevin Ryan tallied a first-quarter goal on a man-up possession against Denver, and Brian Schultz recorded his first in the fourth quarter versus Fairfield.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 90 goals in 16 games this season, an average of 5.625 per game.

Sawyer has scored 50 goals, and his 3.13 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 40 goals and a 2.5 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 14th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 14 of goals per game nationally (Robert Morris).

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 40 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals against Denver in the ECAC Semifinal night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

In the title game, 10 different players scored for Loyola with all three attackers scoring and two of three from the first midfield like tallying goals.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 34 caused turnovers (2.13 per game) and is sixth nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 74 ground balls (4.5 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored nine goals and has seven assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey has guided the Greyhounds to a 15-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now third nationally, in goals (50) and goals per game (3.13). Butts has scored 18 goals and assisted on 12 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 36 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is 14th nationally with 40 goals (2.5 per game), and he also has 14 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 30 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 6 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 32 occasions this season.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

In the ECAC title game, Loyola used an 8-1 run that was comprised of runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to take control of the game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just 10 times this year, with the most recent coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the nine opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 50-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished at or above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 60-20 in the third quarters of games and 113-56 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The next chaper in “Lacrosse’s Greatest Rivalry” will be for a trip to the 2012 Final Four as Maryland and No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins will meet in the quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The 109th meeting between the Terps and the Blue Jays will take place on Saturday, May 12, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with faceoff set for noon.

• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2, as well as streamed on ESPN3.com. Fans can also watch the game on their wireless device with the WatchESPN app. Eamon McEnaney will provide the play-by-play, while the analysis will come from Quint Kessenich. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline reporter.

• The Terps, who received an at-large bid, are making their 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, the second most of any school in NCAA history, while Hopkins, which also received an at-large berth, is making its 41st consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.

• The winner of the Maryland/Hopkins game will advance to the Final Four in Foxborough, Mass., and will face the winner of the No. 3 seed Duke (14-4)/Colgate (14-3) game on Saturday, May 26 at Gillette Stadium. The Blue Devils and the Raiders play in the second game on Sunday, which is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start at PPL Park in Philadelphia.

• Maryland is 10-5 on the season following a 10-9 win over No. 7 seed Lehigh on May 13 in Bethlehem, Pa. The Terps are the one of three unseeded teams to advance to this year’s quarterfinals. The Terps are led by senior attackman Joe Cummings, who has 29 goals and 14 assists for 43 points. Junior attackman Owen Blye is the team leader with 16 assists on the season. Maryland’s defense is led the co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jesse Bernhardt, who is tops on the squad with 55 groundballs and 29 caused turnovers.

• Johns Hopkins is 12-3 after defeating Stony Brook, 19-9, in the first round on Sunday afternoon at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays are led on offense by junior attackman Zach Palmer, who has 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points. Fellow Canadian, Brandon Benn is the team leader in goals with 29. The Hopkins defense is ranked third in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 7.13 goals per game. That unit is led by junior defender Tucker Durkin (32 gb, 18 ct) and junior goalie Pierce Bassett, who boasts a 7.23 goals-against average.

The Count Down10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 91 of the 100 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .910 winning percentage.9 … Maryland is 109-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .820 winning percentage.8 … All eight teams remaining in the tournament field rank among the top 15 in the NCAA in scoring defense.7 … Mike Chanenchuk has totaled seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in Maryland’s last two games.6 … Joe Cummings has six points in four career meetings with Johns Hopkins.5 … Joe Cummings and Drew Snider each have five goals in their last four NCAA tournament games.4 … Owen Blye tied his career high with four goals vs. the Blue Jays earlier this season at Homewood Field.3 … Three unseeded teams advanced into the 2012 quarterfinals.2 … Maryland is playing the No. 2 seed in the tournament for the 15th time in program history.1 … This will be the first meeting between Maryland and Johns Hopkins in the NCAA tournament since the tournament expanded to its current 16-team format.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 43-29 career record for a 59.7 winning percentage. Tillman is 23-10 (.697) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• Hopkins’ Dave Pietramala is in his 12th season at Hopkins and has a 138-44 (75.8) record with the Jays. He is 161-61 overall in 15 years as a coach for a 72.5 win percentage at both Hopkins and Cornell.

• Tillman has a 1-1 career record against Hopkins, losing 11-10 in OT at home in 2011 and winning 9-6 at Homewood Field earlier this season.

Tillman in the NCAA Tournament
• The meeting with Johns Hopkins will be John Tillman’s sixth NCAA tournament game as a head coach.

• Last Sunday’s 10-9 victory at No. 7 seed Lehigh made Tillman 2-0 in first round games and 4-1 in the NCAA tournament.

• Maryland’s run to the 2011 NCAA title game gave Tillman his first four NCAA tournament games as a head coach. He had a 3-1 record after the Terps defeated No. 8 seed UNC in the first round on May 15, No. 1 seed Syracuse on May 22 and No. 5 seed Duke on May 28 before losing to No. 7 seed Virginia.

• As an assistant coach, Tillman helped guide Navy to four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004-07, including a run to the 2004 championship game.

• Maryland is making its 35th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012. The Terps have played in the second-most tournaments since the event began in 1971. Only Hopkins has played in more, making its 41st appearance this season. Virginia is also making its 35th NCAA appearance.

• The Terps have captured two NCAA championships, 1973 and 1975.

Maryland’s Record in the NCAA Tournament
• The Terps have won the fourth-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 46-32 overall record in 77 games. Only Johns Hopkins (67-31), Syracuse (59-21) and Virginia (48-29) have won more Division I tournament games.

• Maryland is seventh by percentage (.590) among all teams ever to play in the tournament. Only Syracuse (59-21, .738), Johns Hopkins (67-31, .684), Princeton (30-14, .682), Virginia (48-29, .623) and Duke (23-14, .622) are ahead of the Terps.

Maryland Unseeded in the NCAA Tournament
• This season marks the sixth time that Maryland has been unseeded since the tournament began in 1972. The Terps were previously unseeded in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2009 and 2011. Maryland is 8-5 (.615) all-time as an unseeded team.

• In those first two unseeded-years Maryland lost its first round game to the No. 8-seeded team, which were Army and Duke, respectively.

• The Terrapins were much more successful in 1997, advancing to the NCAA championship game. Maryland defeated No. 7-seed Georgetown in the first round before knocking off No. 2 Virginia in the quarters. In the 1997 Final Four Maryland upset No. 3 Syracuse, but couldn’t topple No. 1-seed Princeton in the finals.

• The 2009 Terps were the lone unseeded team to win a first round game, knocking off previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3. The Terps lost to eventual national champion Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

• Last season saw the Terps head into the tournament unseeded, but Maryland advanced to the NCAA title game, knocking off No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round, No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Duke in the semifinals. The Terrapins’ run ended with a 9-7 loss to No. 7 seed Virginia in the championship game.

• In the first round this season, Maryland knocked off No. 7 seed Lehigh, 10-9, on a goal by Joe Cummings with just six seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Terps vs. the No. 2 Seed
• This marks the 15th time that Maryland has faced the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland is 3-11 all-time when playing the No. 2 seed.

• This will mark just the second time that Maryland has played the No. 2 seed as an unseeded team.

Series History vs. Johns Hopkins
• Maryland and Hopkins are the two most storied lacrosse programs in the nation, with the rivalry beginning with back in 1895 as Hopkins defeated the Maryland Agricultural College. The Blue Jays (41) and Terps (35) have played in the first and third most NCAA Tournaments since the event began in 1971, respectively. Maryland (111) and Hopkins (181) have produced the most first team All-Americans in the history of lacrosse dating to the first awards in 1922.

• While this will be the 109th meeting between the two schools, Maryland’s official record vs. Hopkins is 39-61-1. The first seven meetings between the two happened before lacrosse was an official sport at Maryland.

• The return to Homewood Field for the first time since 2008 was a memorable one for the Terps as Owen Blye scored four goals, all in the second half, and the Maryland defense held the Blue Jays scoreless for the final 29:17 in a 9-6 Maryland win.

• The 100th official meeting for Maryland between the Terps and the Jays was another classic, but it was Hopkins’ Kyle Wharton scoring the game-winning goal with just 16 seconds left in the first overtime to give the Jays a 12-11 victory in College Park. Joe Cummings led the Terps with four goals, while Ryan Young had a goal and two assists. Niko Amato made 12 saves in the game, while Curtis Holmes won 15-of-27 faceoffs with a career-high nine groundballs.

• In 2010 the Terps and Blue Jays once again played at the Smartlink Day of Rivals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and again the game ended with a 10-9 final. But this time it was Maryland that took home the victory thanks in large part to its quartet of attackmen - Grant Catalino, Travis Reed, Will Yeatman and Ryan Young - who combined for six goals and 11 points. The Terps trailed 4-1 early in the second quarter, but scored eight of the next nine goals to take control of the game. Maryland never trailed after taking the lead, but Hopkins pulled to within a goal by scoring twice in the last two minutes to make it a another one-goal game.

• The 2009 match-up was another one-goal game with the Blue Jays edging the Terps, 10-9, at the inaugural Smartlink Day of Rivals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Hopkins was the beneficiary of nine second-half penalties called against the Terps. Dan Groot had a hat trick for the Terps, while Grant Catalino (2-1=3), Jeremy Sieverts (2-1=3) and Ryan Young (1-2=3) also had three points apiece.

• The 2008 game was not a one-goal affair as Hopkins controlled the game on their home field and took a 10-4 decision. The game was tight in the first half, with the Blue Jays taking a 3-2 lead into halftime. But the third quarter saw Hopkins outscore the Terps 6-1 to put the game out of reach. Grant Catalino was the Terps’ lone multi-point scorer with a goal and an assist, but the highlight of the game for Maryland came on Brian Farrell’s highlight-reel one-handed bounce shot with a pair of Blue Jay defenders draped on him.

• The series returned to its one-goal history in 2007 with the Blue Jays pulling out an 8-7 victory in overtime. Paul Rabil hit a running left-handed shot just 43 seconds into the extra session. Senior midfielder Chris Feifs had the finest outing of his college career in the game, scoring his first-ever hat trick.

• The Terps snapped a four-game losing skid to Hopkins in 2006 with a decisive 11-4 win at Homewood Field on April 14. Leading the way was Attackman of the Year Joe Walters, who scored six goals and added two assists. Eight points and six goals were the most ever by a Maryland player against the Blue Jays. Bill McGlone chipped in with a pair of goals, while junior goalie Harry Alford was solid in the cage, stopping nine shots.

• The 2005 game saw the Blue Jays use a four-goal run in the third quarter to secure an 11-6 victory over the ninth-ranked Terrapins on April 15. Six different Terps scored in the game, led by Joe Walters, Xander Ritz and Dave Matz, who each scored one and added an assist. The loss dropped the Terps to 5-5 on the season, but they would go on a six-game winning streak en route to an ACC Tournament championship and a berth in the Final Four.

• At Homewood Field on April 17, 2004, Hopkins raced out to an 8-1 lead in the first quarter en route to a 14-10 victory in the 100th meeting between the two schools. Sophomore Brendan Healy led the Terps with three goals.

• In the 2003 meeting at Byrd Stadium, on April 12, Joe McDermott scored the game-winner 1:21 into overtime for the 6-5 Hopkins win in front of 8,183 in attendance. Dan LaMonica was the only Terp with multiple points with three on a goal and two assists. Michael Howley finished with a game-high six groundballs.

• Mike Mollot had three goals and an assist to lead the Terps, but Hopkins’ Kyle Barrie scored the game-winning goal at the 1:45 mark of the first overtime to give the Blue Jays a 9-8 victory at Homewood Field. The game was tied at 7-7 going into the fourh, but Mollot’s third goal of the game gave Maryland an 8-7 lead with 13:12 to go in the fourth. The defense tried to hold off the third-ranked Blue Jays, but Kevin Boland scored his only goal of the game at the 3:59 mark of the fourth to tie the score and send the game to overtime.

Maryland vs. Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament
• Maryland and Johns Hopkins have player 108 times, but despite playing in a combined 76 tournaments only 12 of those games have come in NCAA tournament play. The Blue Jays hold a 9-3 series advantage in NCAA tournament games vs. the Terrapins.

• The Terps and Blue Jays have met in the quarterfinals four times with Hopkins winning the first three. Maryland won the last meeting between the two in the quarters, 11-10 in OT, in 1998 (see page 5 for a complete recap). That game was the last time the Terps and Blue Jays met in the tournament.

• Five times the two teams have met in the semifinals (4-1 Hopkins) and three times for the NCAA championship (2-1 Hopkins).

Cummings Named Male Athlete of the Year at the Inaugural Terp Awards
• Senior Joe Cummings took home the top honor at the inaugural Terp Awards celebration on Tuesday, May 8, being selected as the 2012 Male Athlete of the Year. The Towson, Md., native was also recognized by the ACC for his community service efforts.

• Junior Owen Blye was the recipient of the men’s lacrosse Academic Achievement Award, which is presented to the junior or senior from each team with the highest cumulative GPA.

• Senior Jake Bernhardt may have been sidelined from the field this season due to injury, but that didn’t stop him from contributing in the community and he was honored with the men’s lacrosse Community Service Award.

• Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., shares the inaugural ACC Defensive Player of the Year award with Duke’s CJ Costabile. Bernhardt, who is also a 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, leads the Terps with 22 caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. He is also averaging 3.3 groundballs per game and is the captain of a Maryland defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.45 goals per game.

• Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., becomes the seventh Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the first since 2007 when Brian Phipps earned the honor and the first Maryland defender since Michael Howley won the honor. Murray was a long-pole midfielder coming into preseason practice, but was converted to close defense and has become Maryland’s shutdown defender. Murray has started all 11 games for the Terps and became the first freshman close defender to start a season opener since 2008. He currently ranks sixth in the conference with 1.1 caused turnovers per game.

• Virginia senior Steele Stanwick earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

League-Best Four Terps Named To All-ACC Team
• Maryland placed a league-high four players on the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team, which was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Senior attackman Joe Cummings and sophomore goalie Niko Amato made the team for the second-straight season, while junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and junior midfielder John Haus are first-time selections.

• All four ACC men’s programs are represented on the annual All-ACC team, which was determined by a vote of the four head coaches. Maryland’s four honorees were the most by any school. Duke and Virginia each had three selections, while North Carolina had one player make the team.

Going Purple
• Once again this season, the Terps will be wearing purple “MY” stickers, to show their support for the fight against pancreatic cancer, which touched everyone in the Maryland lacrosse family last season with the passing of Maria Young on April 17.

• This past fall the Terps, Maryland alums and family and friends came together for the inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. More on Ms. Young and her amazing story can be found here: Forever Young.

• If you’re interested in more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, including how to make a donation, click here to visit the foundation’s website. You can also get more information on pancreatic cancer at CurePC.org.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about pancreatic cancer from the American Cancer Society:
· More than 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer present each year
· There are more than 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer each year
· The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 71.
· The risk is about the same for both men and women.

Going Gray
• Maryland players will also be wearing gray stickers with the number 42 in honor of Zack Wholley’s father, John, who passed away from brain cancer on August 28, 2011.

• If you’re interested in more information, please visit the National Brain Tumor Society website.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about brain and spinal cord tumors from the American Cancer Society:
· About 22,910 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.
· About 13,700 people (7,720 males and 5,980 females) will die from these tumors.
· Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is about one in 150 for a man and one in 185 for a woman.

Get To 10 And Win
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there’s not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it’s an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 91 of the 100 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .910 winning percentage.

• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012 and again came out on the losing end, despite scoring 11 in a 13-11 loss at Colgate on May 5, 2012. The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.

Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 91.0 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.

• Since 2002 Maryland is 109-24 in games, for a .820 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 174 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 76.4 percent of the time.

Shooting Tells The Story
• The difference between winning and losing for Maryland this season is simple – when the Terps shoot well they win. As it turns out 30% is the magic number for the Terps this season. Maryland is 10-5 on the year and has shot 30% or better in eight of its 10 victories. In four of the Terps’ five losses Maryland failed to shoot 30%.

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 53-4 (.930) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The only four losses were: 13-10 to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas), 11-10 to No. 1 Virginia on April 3, 2010 (10 of 33 for 30.3%), 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011 to No. 3 Johns Hopkins (11 of 28 for 39.3%) and 13-11 at Colgate on May 5, 2012 (11 of 31 for 35.5%).

Elite Company
• With four points in the Terps’ 12-8 win at Mount St. Mary’s on April 25, senior attackman Joe Cummings became a member of an elite club at Maryland – The 100-Point Club. Cummings became just the 38th player in the program’s 87-year history to reach the 100 point plateau. He is passed Bud Beardmore (1960-62) for sole possession of 34th on the all-time points list with 109 after scoring two goals at Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

• Since men’s lacrosse became a fully-recognized championship sport by the NCAA in 1971 only 25 Maryland players have reached 100 career points. (Players who played their entire careers in the championship era).

• Cummings also joined another elite club with his 11th career hat trick at The Mount, becoming one of just 20 Terrapins players to have scored at least 75 career goals. He currently stands in 19th on the career goals list at Maryland with 84.

• Cornell’s string of seven-straight 10+ win seasons came to an end this season with a 9-4 final mark.

The 700 Club
• Maryland’s 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program’s 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men’s lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Army as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.

• Two things that make Maryland’s accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.

Terps’ 87th Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 738-252-4 (.744), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 85 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.

• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland’s win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage. So far, Maryland is 25-9 in the 2010′s for a .735 winning percentage.

Youth Is Served
• Maryland started two sophomores (Michael Ehrhardt and Brian Cooper) and a freshman (Goran Murray) at close defense in the 2012 season-opening win over Hartford. The last time Maryland’s defense had two sophomore and one freshman starting was 2005 when sophomores Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill started alongside freshman Joe Cinosky. The first game that group started together was April 23, 2005 at Fairfield (a 9-6 Terrapin win).

• Goran Murray became the first Maryland freshman to start at close defense in a season opener since 2008 when Max Schmidt started in an 11-6 win at Georgetown.

Face-Off Firsts
• Junior Curtis Holmes’ 19-of-20 (.950) performance facing-off vs. Hartford in the 2012 season opener is just the fifth time since 2000 that a Maryland face-off man has won at least 90% of his draws with at least 10 attempts.

• Holmes joins Andy Claxton and Brian Haggerty as the only Terps with multiple games of 19 or more face-off wins. Claxton did it three times (27 at Towson in 1991, 21 vs. Duke in 1991 and 19 at Brown in 1991), while Haggerty did it twice (20 vs. Butler in 1998 and 19 vs. Virginia in 1998). Holmes had 20 wins vs. Georgetown last season to go along with his 19 vs. the Hawks, which makes him the only Terp to win 19 or more face-offs in different seasons.

• The last 90% performance was in 2008 when Bryn Holmes, Curtis’ older brother, won 9-of-10 face-offs at Mount St. Mary’s.

• The last time a Terp faced-off with a winning percentage above 90% was on March 21, 2006 when David Tamberrino won 12-of-13 in a 14-2 win over Dartmouth.

The Stretch: Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Hopkins
• Since 1978 Maryland’s schedule has been highlighted by a four-game stretch in the middle of its season: North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins. In the 35-year span only four times has the stretch been interrupted with another game added in between one of these traditional four (1981, 1997, 2001, 2003).

• Overall, Maryland is 64-76 (.457) since 1978 vs. those four teams during that time.

• The Terps have swept the four games only once – in 1987. Only twice (1981 & 1988) has Maryland lost all four games. Six times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001) the Terps have won three of the four games. Johns Hopkins broke up the Terps’ bid for a perfect stretch four times, while Carolina and Virginia broke it up one time each.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 43 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 23-19 (.558) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• The Terps played five games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, vs. Duke at the ACC tournament and at Lehigh in the NCAA tournament) on ESPNU in 2012.

First-Time Opponents
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 87 seasons. The 2012 season added Hartford (a 12-6 win on 2/18) and will add Marist (3/10) to that list. In the Terps’ 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland has a 83-3-1 (.960) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when they fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.

• After losing their 1925 opener to Yale, 5-3, the Terps went on to win 40 consecutive season openers from 1926 through 1967. The streak was broken when Maryland tied Princeton, 6-6, in the 1968 opener. Following the deadlock, Maryland went on to win its next 14 openers, giving the Terps a 54-0-1 record over a 57-year span (Maryland did not field a team in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.)

19 Straight in Season Openers
• After beating Hartford to open the 2012 season the Terps have an 19-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last nine over Denver, Mount St. Mary’s, Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 19-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 267-99 (an average score of 14.1-5.2) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 18 years. Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score 10 or more goals in a season opener since Syracuse beat the Terps, 16-13 on March 9, 1983.

A Family Affair
• Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truely a family affair. Since 2002, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season’s roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.

Three Taken In MLL Draft
• Three University of Maryland men’s lacrosse seniors were selected in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft. Midfielder Jake Bernhardt was the highest pick, being selected with the 12th overall selection by the Hamilton Nationals. Midfielder/attackman Joe Cummings was the next Terp taken, going 17th overall to the Rochester Rattlers (his rights have since been traded to the Chesapeake Bayhawks). Midfielder Drew Snider went 45th overall by the Bayhawks.

2012 Team Captains
• Five players have been named team captains for the 2012 season. The quintet, which was selected by a combination of team vote and coaches’ input, consists of seniors Jake Bernhardt, Joe Cummings and Drew Snider and juniors Jesse Bernhardt and Owen Blye. Blye and Jesse Bernhardt are the first pair of juniors to be named team captains since Bob Ott and Randy Ratliff were among four captains in 1978.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The Maryland men’s lacrosse team will hit the road for its opening round game of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Terps will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on No. 7 seed Lehigh. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the sold-out Ulrich Sports Complex, as the Terps (9-5) battle the Mountain Hawks (14-2) for the first time since 1928.

• The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, as well as streamed on ESPN3.com. Fans can also watch the game on their wireless device with the WatchESPN app. Joe Beninati will provide the play-by-play, while the analysis will come from Ryan Boyle.

• The Terps, who received an at-large bid, are making their 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, the second most of any school in NCAA history, while Lehigh, which earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid, is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

• The winner of the Maryland/Lehigh game will take on the winner of the No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins (11-3)/Stony Brook (7-9) game on Saturday, May 19 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. The Blue Jays and Seawolves play in Baltimore on Sunday, May 13 at 3 p.m.

• Maryland enters the tournament with a 9-5 record after finishing the regular season with a 13-11 loss at Colgate, which also earned an at-large bid into the field. The Terps are led by senior attackman Joe Cummings, who has 27 goals and 14 assists for 41 points. Junior midfielder John Haus is the team leader with 16 assists on the season. Maryland’s defense is led the co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jesse Bernhardt, who is tops on the squad with 53 groundballs and 29 caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Niko Amato comes into the postseason with a 7.40 goals-against average and a .551 save percentage.

• Lehigh is 14-2 after defeating Colgate, 16-14, in the Patriot League title game. The Mountain Hawk offense is led by junior attackman Nicky Galasso, who has 44 points on 22 goals and 22 assists. Fellow junior attackman Dante Fantoni also has 22 goals on the season to go along with 19 assists. Lehigh boasts the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense. Freshman Matthew Poillon has started all 16 games in goal for the Mountain Hawks and ranks second in the nation with a 6.55 goals-against average and fourth in the country with a .595 save percentage.

The Count Down10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 90 of the 99 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .909 winning percentage.9 … Maryland is 108-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .818 winning percentage.8 … Including preseason scrimmgaes, Maryland has played eight games this spring vs. teams in the NCAA tournament field.7 … Joe Cummings leads all current Terps with seven goals in NCAA tournament play.6 … Maryland and Lehigh are two of six teams in the NCAA tournament with a faceoff win percentage below .500.5 … This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Maryland and Lehigh, but the first since 1928 when the two teams were nicknamed the Old Liners and Engineers, respectively.4 … Niko Amato has a .642 save percentage in four career NCAA tournament games.3 … This is the third time since 1997 that the Terps have been unseeded in the NCAA tournament.2 … Two current Terps - Kevin Cooper and Drew Snider - have recorded a hat trick in an NCAA tournament game.1 … Only one unseeded team (Maryland) advanced past the first round in the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 42-29 career record for a 59.2 winning percentage. Tillman is 22-10 (.688) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• Lehigh’s Kevin Cassese is in his fifth season as a head coach, all at Lehigh, and has a 39-38 (.505) record.

• This will be Tillman’s first game as a head coach vs. the Mountain Hawks.

Tillman in the NCAA Tournament
• The meeting with Lehigh will be John Tillman’s fifth NCAA tournament game as a head coach.

• Maryland’s run to the 2011 NCAA title game gave Tillman his first four NCAA tournament games as a head coach. He has a 3-1 record after the Terps defeated No. 8 seed UNC in the first round on May 15, No. 1 seed Syracuse on May 22 and No. 5 seed Duke on May 28 before losing to No. 7 seed Virginia.

• As an assistant coach, Tillman helped guide Navy to four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004-07, including a run to the 2004 championship game.

Series History vs. Lehigh
• The series history between Maryland and Lehigh is more like ancient history, but the Terrapins lead the series 3-1.

• The series dates back to 1924 – the very first varsity season of men’s lacrosse at Maryland. Lehigh is one of just four teams to win the first game of a series with Maryland, winning 3-0 in 1924.

• The two teams played in 1925 and 1926 with Maryland winning both games, 5-3 and 7-3, respectively. The last time the two schools met was 1928 and Maryland took that one by a final of 15-2.

• The last time these two programs met neither school had the nickname it currently has. Until the early 1930′s Maryland’s athletic teams were the Old Liners, while Lehigh changes its nickname from the Engineers to the Mountain Hawks in 1995.

• Maryland is making its 35th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012. The Terps have played in the second-most tournaments since the event began in 1971. Only Hopkins has played in more, making its 41st appearance this season. Virginia is also making its 35th NCAA appearance.

• The Terps have captured two NCAA championships, 1973 and 1975.

Maryland’s Record in the NCAA Tournament
• The Terps have won the fourth-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 45-32 overall record in 77 games. Only Johns Hopkins (66-31), Syracuse (59-20) and Virginia (47-29) have won more Division I tournament games.

• Maryland is seventh by percentage (.584) among all teams ever to play in the tournament. Only Syracuse (59-20, .747), Princeton (30-13, .698), Johns Hopkins (66-31, .680), Virginia (47-29, .618), Duke (22-14, .611) and Cornell (30-21, .588) are ahead of the Terps.

Maryland Unseeded in the NCAA Tournament
• This season marks the sixth time that Maryland has been unseeded since the tournament began in 1972. The Terps were previously unseeded in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2009 and 2011.

• In those first two unseeded-years Maryland lost its first round game to the No. 8-seeded team, which were Army and Duke, respectively.

• The Terrapins were much more successful in 1997, advancing to the NCAA championship game. Maryland defeated No. 7-seed Georgetown in the first round before knocking off No. 2 Virginia in the quarters. In the 1997 Final Four Maryland upset No. 3 Syracuse, but couldn’t topple No. 1-seed Princeton in the finals.

• The 2009 Terps were the lone unseeded team to win a first round game, knocking off previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3. The Terps lost to eventual national champion Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

• Last season saw the Terps head into the tournament unseeded, but Maryland advanced to the NCAA title game, knocking off No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round, No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Duke in the semifinals. The Terrapins’ run ended with a 9-7 loss to No. 7 seed Virginia in the championship game.

The Terps vs. the No. 7 Seed
• This marks the 10th time that Maryland has faced the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland is 6-3 all-time when playing the No. 7 seed.

• The Terps previously played the No. 7 seed in 1975, 1979, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2001. En route to its second NCAA title, the 1975 Terps toppled No. 7 Washington & Lee, 15-5, in the semifinals. The 1979 Maryland team opened the tournament vs. No. 7 Syracuse and beat the Orangemen 16-13. After losing in the 1996 quarters to No. 7 Johns Hopkins, an unseeded Terrapin squad took down No. 7 Georgetown, 14-10, in the first round. Maryland dropped a quarterfinal game to No. 7 Princeton in overtime in 2004, but had some measure of closure in 2005 when the Terps beat No. 7 Georgetown in overtime in the quarterfinals. Maryland was the No. 2 seed in 2006 and again matched up with No. 7 Princeton. This time it was the Terps heading to the Final Four as they defeated the Tigers 11-6. Maryland was the lone unseeded team to advance past the first round in 2009, topping previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3, in South Bend, Ind. Last season, the Terps were also unseeded when they played No. 7 seed Virginia in the NCAA title game, but were unable to overcome the Cavaliers, who pulled out a 9-7 victory in Baltimore.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 42 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 23-19 (.548) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• The Terps will have at least four games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, at ACC tournament) Maryland will play on ESPNU in 2012.

Cummings Named Male Athlete of the Year at the Inaugural Terp Awards
• Senior Joe Cummings took home the top honor at the inaugural Terp Awards celebration on Tuesday, May 8, being selected as the 2012 Male Athlete of the Year. The Towson, Md., native was also recognized by the ACC for his community service efforts.

• Junior Owen Blye was the recipient of the men’s lacrosse Academic Achievement Award, which is presented to the junior or senior from each team with the highest cumulative GPA.

• Senior Jake Bernhardt may have been sidelined from the field this season due to injury, but that didn’t stop him from contributing in the community and he was honored with the men’s lacrosse Community Service Award.

• Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., shares the inaugural ACC Defensive Player of the Year award with Duke’s CJ Costabile. Bernhardt, who is also a 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, leads the Terps with 22 caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. He is also averaging 3.3 groundballs per game and is the captain of a Maryland defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.45 goals per game.

• Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., becomes the seventh Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the first since 2007 when Brian Phipps earned the honor and the first Maryland defender since Michael Howley won the honor. Murray was a long-pole midfielder coming into preseason practice, but was converted to close defense and has become Maryland’s shutdown defender. Murray has started all 11 games for the Terps and became the first freshman close defender to start a season opener since 2008. He currently ranks sixth in the conference with 1.1 caused turnovers per game.

• Virginia senior Steele Stanwick earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

League-Best Four Terps Named To All-ACC Team
• Maryland placed a league-high four players on the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team, which was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Senior attackman Joe Cummings and sophomore goalie Niko Amato made the team for the second-straight season, while junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and junior midfielder John Haus are first-time selections.

• All four ACC men’s programs are represented on the annual All-ACC team, which was determined by a vote of the four head coaches. Maryland’s four honorees were the most by any school. Duke and Virginia each had three selections, while North Carolina had one player make the team.

Going Purple
• Once again this season, the Terps will be wearing purple “MY” stickers, to show their support for the fight against pancreatic cancer, which touched everyone in the Maryland lacrosse family last season with the passing of Maria Young on April 17.

• This past fall the Terps, Maryland alums and family and friends came together for the inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. More on Ms. Young and her amazing story can be found here: Forever Young.

• If you’re interested in more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, including how to make a donation, click here to visit the foundation’s website. You can also get more information on pancreatic cancer at CurePC.org.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about pancreatic cancer from the American Cancer Society:
· More than 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer present each year
· There are more than 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer each year
· The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 71.
· The risk is about the same for both men and women.

Going Gray
• Maryland players will also be wearing gray stickers with the number 42 in honor of Zack Wholley’s father, John, who passed away from brain cancer on August 28, 2011.

• If you’re interested in more information, please visit the National Brain Tumor Society website.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about brain and spinal cord tumors from the American Cancer Society:
· About 22,910 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.
· About 13,700 people (7,720 males and 5,980 females) will die from these tumors.
· Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is about one in 150 for a man and one in 185 for a woman.

Get To 10 And Win
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there’s not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it’s an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 90 of the 99 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .909 winning percentage.

• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012 and again came out on the losing end, despite scoring 11 in a 13-11 loss at Colgate on May 5, 2012. The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.

Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 91.6 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.

• Since 2002 Maryland is 108-24 in games, for a .818 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 173 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 75.7 percent of the time.

Shooting Tells The Story
• The difference between winning and losing for Maryland this season is simple – when the Terps shoot well they win. As it turns out 30% is the magic number for the Terps this season. Maryland is 9-5 on the year and has shot 30% or better in eight of its nine victories. In four of the Terps’ five losses Maryland failed to shoot 30%.

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 53-4 (.930) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The only four losses were: 13-10 to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas), 11-10 to No. 1 Virginia on April 3, 2010 (10 of 33 for 30.3%), 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011 to No. 3 Johns Hopkins (11 of 28 for 39.3%) and 13-11 at Colgate on May 5, 2012 (11 of 31 for 35.5%).

Elite Company
• With four points in the Terps’ 12-8 win at Mount St. Mary’s on April 25, senior attackman Joe Cummings became a member of an elite club at Maryland – The 100-Point Club. Cummings became just the 38th player in the program’s 87-year history to reach the 100 point plateau. He is currently tied with Bill McGlone (2003-06) for 35th on the all-time points list with 107 after totaling one point on one goal at Colgate.

• Since men’s lacrosse became a fully-recognized championship sport by the NCAA in 1971 only 25 Maryland players have reached 100 career points. (Players who played their entire careers in the championship era).

• Cummings also joined another elite club with his 11th career hat trick at The Mount, becoming one of just 20 Terrapins players to have scored at least 75 career goals. He currently stands in 19th on the career goals list at Maryland with 81.

Youth Is Served
• Maryland started two sophomores (Michael Ehrhardt and Brian Cooper) and a freshman (Goran Murray) at close defense in the 2012 season-opening win over Hartford. The last time Maryland’s defense had two sophomore and one freshman starting was 2005 when sophomores Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill started alongside freshman Joe Cinosky. The first game that group started together was April 23, 2005 at Fairfield (a 9-6 Terrapin win).

• Goran Murray became the first Maryland freshman to start at close defense in a season opener since 2008 when Max Schmidt started in an 11-6 win at Georgetown.

Face-Off Firsts
• Junior Curtis Holmes’ 19-of-20 (.950) performance facing-off vs. Hartford in the 2012 season opener is just the fifth time since 2000 that a Maryland face-off man has won at least 90% of his draws with at least 10 attempts.

• Holmes joins Andy Claxton and Brian Haggerty as the only Terps with multiple games of 19 or more face-off wins. Claxton did it three times (27 at Towson in 1991, 21 vs. Duke in 1991 and 19 at Brown in 1991), while Haggerty did it twice (20 vs. Butler in 1998 and 19 vs. Virginia in 1998). Holmes had 20 wins vs. Georgetown last season to go along with his 19 vs. the Hawks, which makes him the only Terp to win 19 or more face-offs in different seasons.

• The last 90% performance was in 2008 when Bryn Holmes, Curtis’ older brother, won 9-of-10 face-offs at Mount St. Mary’s.

• The last time a Terp faced-off with a winning percentage above 90% was on March 21, 2006 when David Tamberrino won 12-of-13 in a 14-2 win over Dartmouth.

The 700 Club
• Maryland’s 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program’s 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men’s lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Army as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.

• Two things that make Maryland’s accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.z

Terps’ 87th Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 737-252-4 (.744), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 85 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.

• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland’s win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage. So far, Maryland is 25-9 in the 2010′s for a .735 winning percentage.

The Stretch: Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Hopkins
• Since 1978 Maryland’s schedule has been highlighted by a four-game stretch in the middle of its season: North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins. In the 35-year span only four times has the stretch been interrupted with another game added in between one of these traditional four (1981, 1997, 2001, 2003).

• Overall, Maryland is 64-76 (.457) since 1978 vs. those four teams during that time.

• The Terps have swept the four games only once – in 1987. Only twice (1981 & 1988) has Maryland lost all four games. Six times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001) the Terps have won three of the four games. Johns Hopkins broke up the Terps’ bid for a perfect stretch four times, while Carolina and Virginia broke it up one time each.

First-Time Opponents
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 87 seasons. The 2012 season added Hartford (a 12-6 win on 2/18) and will add Marist (3/10) to that list. In the Terps’ 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland has a 83-3-1 (.960) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when they fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.

• After losing their 1925 opener to Yale, 5-3, the Terps went on to win 40 consecutive season openers from 1926 through 1967. The streak was broken when Maryland tied Princeton, 6-6, in the 1968 opener. Following the deadlock, Maryland went on to win its next 14 openers, giving the Terps a 54-0-1 record over a 57-year span (Maryland did not field a team in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.)

19 Straight in Season Openers
• After beating Hartford to open the 2012 season the Terps have an 19-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last nine over Denver, Mount St. Mary’s, Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 19-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 267-99 (an average score of 14.1-5.2) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 18 years. Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score 10 or more goals in a season opener since Syracuse beat the Terps, 16-13 on March 9, 1983.

Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
• Maryland needs a win over the Mountain Hawks to extend its streak of double-digit win seasons to 10. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times). The Terrapins come into the game with a 9-5 record.

• Cornell’s string of seven-straight 10+ win seasons came to an end this season with a 9-4 final mark.

A Family Affair
• Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truely a family affair. Since 2002, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season’s roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.

Three Taken In MLL Draft
• Three University of Maryland men’s lacrosse seniors were selected in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft. Midfielder Jake Bernhardt was the highest pick, being selected with the 12th overall selection by the Hamilton Nationals. Midfielder/attackman Joe Cummings was the next Terp taken, going 17th overall to the Rochester Rattlers (his rights have since been traded to the Chesapeake Bayhawks). Midfielder Drew Snider went 45th overall by the Bayhawks.

2012 Team Captains
• Five players have been named team captains for the 2012 season. The quintet, which was selected by a combination of team vote and coaches’ input, consists of seniors Jake Bernhardt, Joe Cummings and Drew Snider and juniors Jesse Bernhardt and Owen Blye. Blye and Jesse Bernhardt are the first pair of juniors to be named team captains since Bob Ott and Randy Ratliff were among four captains in 1978.

Loyola University Maryland will host a NCAA Championships First Round game on Saturday, May 12, 2012, as the top seed in the 2012 Championships. The Greyhounds welcome Canisius College to Ridley Athletic Complex for a 5 o’clock game.

The winner of the Loyola-Canisius game will meet the winner of North Carolina and Denver on Saturday, May 19, 2012, in Annapolis, Md.

On The Tube And Web

The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Mike Corey and Mark Dixon calling the action.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN.

Series History

Loyola and Canisius will meet for the first time in men’s lacrosse when they take the field on Saturday, however, the schools are very familiar with one another.

Canisius hails from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which is the primary conference for Loyola’s athletic teams other than men’s and women’s lacrosse.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 8-19 all-time, 8-17 in Division I Championships games.

The Greyhounds’ last appearance in the Championships came in 2010 when they lost, 11-10, in triple overtime at Cornell.

Loyola last hosted an NCAA game in 2000 when Notre Dame defeated the Greyhounds, 15-12, on what was then known as Curley Field (now Diane Geppi-Aikens Field). Loyola’s last playoff win was a 12-11 triumph over Georgetown in 1998 that sent the team to the Final Four where it eventually bowed out to Maryland.

Top Spot

Loyola enters the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Fairfield in the ECAC Championship Game was its 14th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

In The Polls

Loyola moved up to No. 2 in both the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls following their ECAC Championship. The Greyhounds were ranked No. 1 for two weeks before losing their only game of the season on April 28 to Johns Hopkins.

The Greyhounds finished the regular-season with the No. 1 RPI in the NCAA, as well.

Canisius is not ranked in the media version and receiving votes in the coaches poll.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship.

Balanced Scoring In ECAC Championships

Loyola traveled to Denver for the 2012 ECAC Lacrosse League Championships and left the Mile-High City with a 97-pound trophy (no, really). The Greyhounds, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and finished the regular-season 6-0 in the league, beat host and No. 4 seed Denver, 14-13, in overtime to advance to the final. There, Loyola topped Fairfield, 14-7.

Fifteen different Greyhounds scored goals in the two games with 11 tallying goals in the semifinal and 10 in the title game. Mike Sawyer led the team with four goals in the two games, a trio coming in the final, while Eric Lusby, Chris Layne and Scott Ratliff each had three.

Justin Ward led the Greyhounds with eight total points, dishing out three assists in the semifinal and three along with two goals in the championship.

Two players scored their first collegiate goals in the games, one in each contest. Kevin Ryan tallied a first-quarter goal on a man-up possession against Denver, and Brian Schultz recorded his first in the fourth quarter versus Fairfield.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (68) and caused turnovers (32), is tied for sixth in goals (9) and is seventh in assists (7).

A Tewaaraton Award semifinalist, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

From Way Downtown

Reid Acton created his own SportsCenter highlight in the ECAC Championship Game, earning Friday night’s Top Play on ESPN. After goalkeeper Jack Runkel made a save on Fairfield’s Marshall Johnson with less than 10 seconds to play.

Runkel passed it to Acton on his right side, Acton took a step forward and launched the ball 75 yards to the other side of the field. It settled over the stick of Stags goalkeeper Charlie Cipriano to put the Greyhounds up 5-3 with one tick left on the first-quarter clock.

Acton’s goal started a 8-1 Loyola run that spanned three quarters and put the game out of reach. The goal was the second of Acton’s career – he also scored against Mount St. Mary’s last season – and Runkel was credited with his first career assist.

50 Points, 40 Goals

Mike Sawyer scored four goals on April 21 at Hobart to reach the 40-goal mark in 13 games, and he current sits at 45 after tallying his 10th hat trick of the season in the ECAC Championship Game against Fairfield. Against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000.

His one goal in the ECAC Semifinal versus Denver pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 53, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37 g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. With his next point, Sawyer’s teammate Eric Lusby will record his 50th of the season.

In addition to being just the third Loyola player to score 40-plus this century, Sawyer is the seventh Greyhound to reach the mark since Loyola moved to NCAA Division I status in 1982.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 82 goals in 15 games this season, an average of 5.5 per game.

Sawyer has scored 45 goals, and his 3.0 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 37 goals and a 2.47 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 16th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 16 of goals per game nationally.

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 37 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

With Lusby’s next point, the duo will also be the first tandem to score 50 or more points in a season since Goettelmann and Prout in 2000.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his second multi-goal game of the season in the ECAC Semifinal Game against Denver, and he tallied a goal and an assist in the title game, raising his season totals to nine goals and seven assists.

With his second-quarter assist against Fairfield, he tied the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, matching the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff, a Tewaaraton Award semifinalist along with teammate Mike Sawyer, is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals on Wednesday night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

In the title game, 10 different players scored for Loyola with all three attackers scoring and two of three from the first midfield like tallying goals.

Scoring From Different Places

Kevin Ryan scored his first career goal on Wednesday night, taking a Justin Ward pass form behind the crease and one-timing a shot into the net. Ryan did not play as a freshman in 2011 but has seen action in 12 games this year from the midfield and on extra-man possessions.

Nikko Pontrello added his third goal of the season and second versus the Pioneers. He also had the game-tying goal in the third quarter of the regular-season match-up that started Loyola’s 5-1 run to close the victory.

Phil Dobson recorded his second career multi-goal game, both coming against top-flight competition. He recorded a pair earlier this season against ACC Champ Duke.

Josh Hawkins added a man-up goal after Mike Sawyer caused a turnover and Justin Ward picked up the ground ball and fed Hawkins. The goal was Hawkins’ fifth of the year, and he also had his first assist of the season on a first-quarter Scott Ratliff goal.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Back-To-Back OTs

It took Loyola 30 years of NCAA Division I play (the Greyhounds moved into the division in 1982) to play back-to-back overtime games, but now it has experienced the pleasure twice in two years.

Last year, Loyola defeated Fairfield, 7-6, in overtime on April 9, and it then won 6-5 in four extra periods at Georgetown on April 17, marking the first time it had played back-to-back overtime games since joining Division I.

The Greyhounds have now played two-straight overtime games, losing on April 28 at home to Johns Hopkins and defeating Denver five days later.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 32 caused turnovers (2.13 per game) and is eighth nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 68 ground balls (4.5 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored nine goals and has seven assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey guided the Greyhounds to a 14-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches last Monday. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now third nationally, in goals (45) and goals per game (3.0). Butts has scored 16 goals and assisted on 12 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 36 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is 16th nationally with 37 goals (2.47 per game), and he also has 12 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 28 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Tournament.

Ratliff, Sawyer Named Tewaaraton Semifinalists

Juniors Scott Ratliff and Mike Sawyer were named to the Tewaaraton Award semifinal list as the game’s top players, making Loyola one of five schools – joining Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Massachusetts and Virginia – to have two players make the 25-man list.

Loyola is also one of six schools to have at least one male and one female semifinalist, as sophomore Marlee Paton made the women’s list from Loyola. The winners of both awards will be selected on May 31, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 15 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 30 occasions this season.

Loyola used four three-goal runs against Duke, including one three-goal streak that put Loyola up 4-1 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Greyhounds never trailed after that initial three-goal run and extended their lead to 13-5 after its fourth three-goal spurt of the game.

The Greyhounds had their longest run in almost two years against Air Force, scoring 10 in a row to open the second half. The last time Loyola scored 10 or more in a row was on March 20, 2010, when it had 14 straight against Air Force.

At Fairfield, Loyola scored the final four goals of the game to rally from a 6-4 deficit to win 8-6. The Greyhounds then scored four in a row during the third and fourth quarters at Denver that brought them from down 8-7 to a 12-9 victory.

Versus Johns Hopkins, the Greyhounds scored four in a row, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the last 14:13 of regulation, to tie the game at 9-9, sending it to overtime.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

In the ECAC title game, Loyola used an 8-1 run that was comprised of runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to take control of the game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just nine times this year, with the most recent coming when Denver scored three on two occasions. Only Denver (seven), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the nine opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 50-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished at or above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 55-20 in the third quarters of games and 100-54 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

Record At Ridley

After going 4-1 at Ridley Athletic Complex last season, the Greyhounds opened this season with six in a row at home before falling to Johns Hopkins. Loyola is now 14-4 all-time at Ridley.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech head men’s basketball coach James Johnson has announced the hiring of Kurt Kanaskie, Mark Byington and Ramon Williams as assistant coaches in the program.

“These three coaches will bring a lot of things to the table,” Johnson said. “They have experience, youth, and energy. They are all very good coaches and all have been a part of some very good programs that have advanced to post-season play and competed in the NCAA Tournament. They are experienced recruiting up and down the Eastern Seaboard. We will be able to cover from New Jersey, all the way down to Florida, as well as some Midwest connections. We are excited to get going.”

Kurt Kanaskie comes to Virginia Tech after spending one season at Navy as associate head coach and eight seasons at Penn State, including two years as associate head coach. He was on the staff at Penn State with Johnson from 2003-2005. While at Penn State, Kanaskie helped the Nittany Lions to a spot in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, a 2009 NIT Championship and a berth in the 2007 NIT.

“We are very excited with the hiring of Kurt Kanaskie,” Johnson said. “He is a very experienced and knowledgable basketball coach. He is outstanding on the court, in recruiting and has a great relationship with players.”

Prior to Penn State, Kanaskie served as the head coach at Drake for seven seasons (1997-03). Before Drake, he was one of the most successful Division II head coaches in Pennsylvania, as he was the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for eight seasons. In the 1994-95 season, IUP grabbed its first national ranking in school history (No. 5), earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time ever and advanced to the Elite Eight. A year later, IUP earned a No. 1 national ranking and advanced to the national semifinals. Kanaskie was twice named PSAC Coach of the Year, earned NABC District Coach of the Year honors twice and was twice named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year.

Before IUP, Kanaskie served as the head coach at Lock Haven University for three years (1986-88). His LHU team reached the NCAA Tournament a year later and earned the school’s first-ever national ranking. He was named PSAC Coach of the Year twice at LHU, giving him a total of four PSAC coaching awards.

The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native began his coaching career as an assistant coach at South Carolina for five seasons. Kanaskie was an All-State basketball player at Cumberland Valley High School and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from La Salle University in 1980 and a Master of Business Administration from South Carolina in 1985. While at La Salle, he earned All-Big Five and All-East Coast Conference honors, was an academic All-American, and left as the school’s ninth all-time leading scorer. He was drafted by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Mark Byington comes to Virginia Tech from the College of Charleston. During his nine seasons in Charleston, Byington spent six seasons as Bobby Cremins’ top assistant and was the interim head coach the final month of the 2011-12 season. He was on the same Cougar staff with Johnson during the 2002-03 season.

“Mark Byington is a young, energetic and enthusiastic coach and I’m thrilled to have him join our staff,” Johnson said. “He is a local guy from Salem, Va., and knows the ACC area. He has a lot of contacts in this area of the country and is an outstanding recruiter.”

Byington was an assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy in 2001-02. He served as the director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia during the 2004-05 season and was a graduate student manager at UVa for two seasons before that.

A 1998 graduate of UNC Wilmington, Byington earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and was a three-year starter on the men’s basketball team earning second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association and All-CAA Defensive Team honors his senior year. A two-time CAA All-Academic selection, Byington scored more than 1,000 points during his career. He earned a master’s degree in
sports psychology from UVa in December of 2003.

Byington was a high school basketball standout at Salem High School. He was named Player of the Year in the state of Virginia as a high school senior, leading Salem to the state championship. He also earned honorable mention All-America recognition and was a two time first-team All-State selection. Following his senior season, he was chosen Most Valuable Player of the Virginia High School
League All-Star Game.

Ramon Williams, a native of Roanoke, Va., joins the staff after serving three seasons at Ohio University. During his three seasons at Ohio, the Bobcats advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and 2012. In 2012, Ohio advanced to the Sweet 16 as a No. 13 seed with victories over No. 4 seed Michigan and No. 12 seed South Florida.

“We are excited about having Ramon Williams join our staff,” Johnson said. “He is a young man who has Virginia ties and Virginia roots. He was an extremely good player at VMI and has coached with some outstanding coaches in some very good programs. He has coached at the highest level while at DePaul and did a great job with John Groce at Ohio, as they made a run to the Sweet 16. He was
an integral part of recruiting those players and with the on-the-court coaching.”

Williams came to Ohio after a four-year stint at DePaul, where he helped guide the Blue Demons through the rugged BIG EAST Conference, widely regarded as the nation’s top league. In Williams’ second year on staff, DePaul posted nine BIG EAST wins and defeated three ranked teams en route to making its deepest postseason run in 17 years, a trip to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Before DePaul, Williams spent three years as an assistant at Richmond under Jerry Wainwright. The Spiders reached the postseason in two of Williams’ three seasons on staff, qualifying for the NIT in 2003 and capturing the program’s second-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2004.

A 1990 graduate of VMI with a degree in economics, Williams was a member of the men’s basketball staff at his alma mater for nine years as both an assistant and associate head coach before heading to Richmond. Williams was a two-time All-Southern Conference and SoCon All-Tournament Team selection at VMI, and finished his career as the program’s third-leading scorer with 1,630 points. He
continues to hold VMI program records for three-point field goals in a game and single-season three-point field goal percentage.

Williams and his brother, Damon, who formed one of the most prolific scoring duos in NCAA history, were both inducted into the VMI Sports Hall of Fame in September of 2001.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Student-athletes, coaches and teams were honored Tuesday for prowess in academics, community service and athletics at the inaugural Terp Awards held at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on campus.

The awards ceremony is an expanded version of the President’s Cup Brunch and includes a number of new awards honoring student-athletes and coaches. The ceremony was co-sponsored by the Terrapin Club and the `M’ Club.

Men’s lacrosse player Joe Cummings earned Male Athlete of the Year and Alyssa Thomas of women’s basketball was voted the Suzanne Tyler Female Athlete of the Year in balloting by the coaches.

Nick Faust of the men’s basketball team, women’s track and field freshman Thea LaFond and Brene Moseley of women’s basketball shared Rookie of the Year honors.

The 2011 Maryland field hockey team, which went from unseeded in the tournament to a NCAA national championship last fall was the first-ever Terrapin Cup Team of the Year.

Highlighting the academic awards were the presentation of the President’s Cup Team GPA Awards to men’s tennis and volleyball. University President Wallace Loh presented the awards.

ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (male and female who exhibit the characteristics of the ultimate Terrapin, excelling the classroom, in the athletic arena and in community service) - Harriet Tibble, field hockey; Brett Harman, baseball.

`M’ Club Postgraduate Scholarship (male and female who excelled academically and athletically, will have earned a degree by May 2012 and are pursuing postgraduate study) – Allison Fried, women’s cross country; Kyle John, wrestling.

Four Tigers Named 2012 All-CAA
Thomas DeNapoli & John Fennessy Earn Second Team All-CAA Selections

RICHMOND, Va. – Towson University sophomore’s Thomas DeNapoli and John Fennessy garnered second team All-CAA selections while freshmen Justin Mabus and Jojo Ostrander were named to the All-Rookie team as the league announced its men’s lacrosse post-season awards Friday afternoon.

The four underclassmen were all major contributors in leading the Tigers back into the CAA Tournament after a one year absence. Towson went 7-8 under first-year head coach Shawn Nadelen in 2012 after only winning three games in 2011. The Tigers lost just three games all year to teams not ranked in the Top 20 nationally and they won five straight games from March 17 to April 4, a stretch that included wins over Delaware, Hofstra and UMBC.

DeNapoli led the Tigers with 28 points this season. The sophomore tallied 15 goals and dished out a team-high 13 assists on the year. DeNapoli set a new career high with six points on three goals and three assists to lead the Tigers to a dramatic come-from-behind victory at No. 20 Hofstra on March 31. He had four points in the fourth quarter against the Pride, including a goal with two seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Fennessy was an anchor on the Towson defense throughout the season. The sophomore started 14 games and was second on the team with 14 caused turnovers. A 2011 CAA All-Rookie team selection, Fennessy caused a career-high three turnovers against both Navy on March 13 and No. 1 Massachusetts on May 2.

Mabus started 10 of the 13 games he played in during his first season in a Tiger uniform. The freshman was second on the team with 11 assists and he scored four goals to total 15 points. Mabus was selected as the CAA Rookie of the Week twice, on March 26 after dishing out three assists against Mercer and on April 2 after tallying the game-winning goal for the Tigers in double overtime at Hofstra.

Ostrander was a starter on defense for the Tigers in 14 of 15 games this season. The freshman was usually assigned to guard the opposing team’s top scorer. Ostrander ended the year with 18 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers.

Loyola University Maryland will play Fairfield University in the ECAC Championship Game on Friday, May 4, at 4 p.m. (Mountain) time at Peter Barton Stadium in Denver, Colo.

The top-seeded Greyhounds defeated No. 4 seed University of Denver, 14-13, in overtime Wednesday night, and the No. 3 seed Stags topped Ohio State University, 8-7, in the other semifinal.

On The Tube And Web

The ECAC Championship Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Mark Larson and Dale Drypolcher calling the action.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN.

Series History

Loyola and Fairfield will play for the 15th time in series history when the teams meet in the ECAC Championship Game. The Greyhounds hold a 12-2 advantage in the all-time series, but the Stags are 1-0 when they meet in the ECAC Championships.

The Greyhounds rallied from a two-goal fourth-quarter deficit to score the last four game to defeat Fairfield, 8-6, on April 7, 2012, in the regular-season meeting between the teams. The Stags took a 6-4 lead with 11:59 left in regulation on a John Snellman goal, but Davis Butts assisted a J.P. Dalton goal eight seconds later to start the 4-0 run that led to the win in Connecticut.

ECAC Championships History

Loyola is 1-1 in the brief two-year history of the ECAC Championships after defeating Denver, 14-13, in overtime on Wednesday night.

Last year, the second-seeded Greyhounds lost to Fairfield, the No. 3 seed, 11-9, in the ECAC Semifinal that was also held in Denver.

School-Record Tying Win

Loyola’s victory over Denver on Wednesday night was the team’s 13th of the season, tying the 1998 team for most in school history.

This season’s 13 wins came in 14 games, one fewer the same number it took the 1998 team. That squad finished with a 13-2 record after falling in the NCAA Semifinals.

In The Polls

Loyola’s first loss of the season last Saturday, to then-No. 10 Johns Hopkins, dropped the Greyhounds from the top spot nationally where they resided for two weeks.

The Greyhounds are now No. 3 in both the USILA coaches and Inside Lacrosse/Nike poll.

Fairfield is ranked 16th in both polls.

Back-To-Back OTs

It took Loyola 30 years of NCAA Division I play (the Greyhounds moved into the division in 1982) to play back-to-back overtime games, but now it has experienced the pleasure twice in two years.

Last year, Loyola defeated Fairfield, 7-6, in overtime on April 9, and it then won 6-5 in four extra periods at Georgetown on April 17, marking the first time it had played back-to-back overtime games since joining Division I.

The Greyhounds have now played two-straight overtime games, losing on April 28 at home to Johns Hopkins and defeating Denver on Wednesday night.

Comeback Thwarted

Loyola led Denver 13-6 early in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night, but the Pioneers reeled off seven goals in a row to tie the game at 13-13 with 3:30 to play.

J.P. Dalton won the next faceoff, however, and Loyola retained possession for the rest of regulation, getting off two shots that went wide.

In overtime, Scott Ratliff picked up the ground ball on the first faceoff of overtime, raced to goal and scored eight seconds into the extra frame to give Loyola a 14-13 win.

Denver’s 7-0 run to tie the game was the largest run the Greyhounds have allowed this season, topping 5-0 runs that Fairfield and Johns Hopkins put up.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his second multi-goal game of the season on Wednesday night, raising his season totals to eight goals and six assists.

Ratliff is nearing the Loyola single-season for points by a long pole player. Current assistant coach Matt Dwan set the record during his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists while earning All-America honors.

Ratliff, a Tewaaraton Award semifinalist along with teammate Mike Sawyer, is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his six assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals on Wednesday night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

Scoring From Different Places

Kevin Ryan scored his first career goal on Wednesday night, taking a Justin Ward pass form behind the crease and one-timing a shot into the net. Ryan did not play as a freshman in 2011 but has seen action in 12 games this year from the midfield and on extra-man possessions.

Nikko Pontrello added his third goal of the season and second versus the Pioneers. He also had the game-tying goal in the third quarter of the regular-season match-up that started Loyola’s 5-1 run to close the victory.

Phil Dobson recorded his second career multi-goal game, both coming against top-flight competition. He recorded a pair earlier this season against ACC Champ Duke.

Josh Hawkins added a man-up goal after Mike Sawyer caused a turnover and Justin Ward picked up the ground ball and fed Hawkins. The goal was Hawkins’ fifth of the year, and he also had his first assist of the season on a first-quarter Scott Ratliff goal.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 30 caused turnovers (2.31 per game) and is seventh nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 52 ground balls (4.0 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored six goals and has six assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Ratliff is one of two Greyhounds, along with Mike Sawyer on attack, who is a semifinalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey guided the Greyhounds to a 12-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches on Monday. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and was third nationally, in goals (41) and goals per game (3.15). Butts scored 15 goals and assisted on 11 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 33 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and in the top-20 nationally with 34 goals, and he also has 10 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 25 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers entering the post season.

Ratliff, Sawyer Named Tewaaraton Semifinalists

Juniors Scott Ratliff and Mike Sawyer were named to the Tewaaraton Award semifinal list as the game’s top players, making Loyola one of five schools – joining Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Massachusetts and Virginia – to have two players make the 25-man list.

Loyola is also one of six schools to have at least one male and one female semifinalist, as sophomore Marlee Paton made the women’s list from Loyola. The winners of both awards will be selected on May 31, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

40-Goal Mark

Mike Sawyer scored four goals on April 21 at Hobart and added one each against Johns Hopkins and Denver, raising his season total to 42 through 14 games. Against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000.

In addition to being just the third Loyola player to score 40-plus this century, Sawyer is the seventh Greyhound to reach the mark since Loyola moved to NCAA Division I status in 1982.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 14 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 28 occasions this season.

Loyola used four three-goal runs against Duke, including one three-goal streak that put Loyola up 4-1 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Greyhounds never trailed after that initial three-goal run and extended their lead to 13-5 after its fourth three-goal spurt of the game.

The Greyhounds had their longest run in almost two years against Air Force, scoring 10 in a row to open the second half. The last time Loyola scored 10 or more in a row was on March 20, 2010, when it had 14 straight against Air Force.

At Fairfield, Loyola scored the final four goals of the game to rally from a 6-4 deficit to win 8-6. The Greyhounds then scored four in a row during the third and fourth quarters at Denver that brought them from down 8-7 to a 12-9 victory.

Versus Johns Hopkins, the Greyhounds scored four in a row, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the last 14:13 of regulation, to tie the game at 9-9, sending it to overtime.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just nine times this year, with the most recent coming when Denver scored three on two occasions. Only Denver (seven), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the nine opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 78 goals in 14 games this season, an average of 5.6 per game.

Sawyer has scored 42 goals, and his 3.0 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 36 goals and a 2.57 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 14th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 14 of goals per game nationally.

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 36 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 52.6-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 51-20 in the third quarters of games and 94-52 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.